Questioning Climate Resilience with Marjahn Finlayson

“Resilience” is a buzzword in the climate space, more and more, adaptation and mitigation prove insufficient as we experience more devastating climate disasters at higher frequencies than ever before. We were in conversation with Marjahn Finlayson about the problem with the dominant framings of resilience, particularly for The Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Small Island Developing States. We spoke about climate financing, false solutions, the responsibility of individuals to be smarter, better, more conscious consumers, and the functions and benefits of community.

 

#16daysofactivism

Rage is a Catalyst with Erika Robinson

Women and girls are steered away from rage throughout our lives. We are told that it is not only dangerous, but masculine—reserved for men. We are allowed sadness, but not rage. What does it mean to reclaim access to that emotion? How can we identify it, feel it, and turn it into something powerful for ourselves and our communities? We were in conversation with Erika Robinson about using rage as catalyst for personal freedom and collective liberation.

#16daysofactivism

Through Rage to Activism

Rage is a powerful force that we can harness for impactful work in our communities. Psychotherapist and activist Patrice Daniel (Barbados), therapist Jessica Russell (Grand Bahama), and human rights advocate Erin Greene (New Providence) was in conversation about how rage is perceived, experienced and expressed, who is allowed to have it, how it can be useful to us, and how we can embrace rage and make it a catalyst for action.

#16daysofactivism

For the full list of Global 16 Days Campaign 2024 events and resources, go to https://lu.ma/16days24.

Resilience and Other Myths with Soraya Chemaly

Our Global #16Days Campaign events began on November 25 at 6pm EST with a conversation with feminist, activist, and author Soraya Chemaly on her new book, The Resilience Myth, along with Rage Becomes Her, and the learnings and ideas we can apply to the feminist and women’s rights movements as we work to build community.

We spoke about the importance of resisting the idea and expectation that we must all struggle alone to “bounce back” from trauma. We also looked at rage as a positive force that can fuel our activism.

#16DaysOfActivism #Equality242

For the full list of Global 16 Days Campaign 2024 events and resources, go to https://lu.ma/16days24.

 

16 Days of Activism 2024: Rage & Resilience

Every year, Equality Bahamas hosts a series of events during the Global 16 Days Campaign (also known as 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence) every year. This year, our theme was on Rage (as a positive, productive energy) and Resilience (as a farce and insult).

Over the course of 16 days from November 25 to December 10, we explored this theme with local Bahamian, Caribbean, and global activists and experts and a variety of events in-person in Nassau and online.

Check out all the events at a glance here.

November 25 – Resilience and Other Myths with Soraya Chemaly

We kicked things off on November 25 at 6pm EST with ​feminist, activist, and author Soraya Chemaly on her new book, The Resilience Myth, along with Rage Becomes Her, and the learnings and ideas we can apply to the feminist and women’s rights movements as we work to build community. We talked about the importance of resisting the idea and expectation that we must all struggle alone to “bounce back” from trauma. We also looked at rage as a positive force that can fuel our activism.

Click Here to Watch in Full

November 26 – Through Rage to Activism with Patrice Daniel, Erin Greene & Jessica Russell

Rage is a powerful force that we can harness for impactful work in our communities. Psychotherapist and activist Patrice Daniel (Barbados), therapist Jessica Russell (Grand Bahama), and human rights advocate Erin Greene (New Providence) was in conversation about how rage is perceived, experienced and expressed, who is allowed to have it, how it can be useful to us, and how we can embrace rage and make it a catalyst for action.

Click Here to Watch in Full

November 28 – Rage is a Catalyst with Erika Robinson

Our first in-person event of 16 Days was held at the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas at 6pm EST on Wednesday November 28. Empowerment Coach Erika Robinson guided us through an interactive workshop on using rage as a catalyst.

Click Here to Watch The First Portion

November 30 – Questioning Climate Resilience with Marjahn Finlayson

After an amazing 4 part series on climate change, Marjahn Finlayson joined us for another informative, fun chat, this time questioning the concept of climate resilience. “Resilience” is a buzzword in the climate space, more and more, adaptation and mitigation prove insufficient as we experience more devastating climate disasters at higher frequencies than ever before. We were in conversation with Marjahn Finlayson about the problem with the dominant framings of resilience, particularly for The Bahamas, the Caribbean, and Small Island Developing States. We spoke about climate financing, false solutions, the responsibility of individuals to be smarter, better, more conscious consumers, and the functions and benefits of community.

Click Here to Watch in Full

December 2 – Leveraging CEDAW for Resilient Systems with Marion Bethel

The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is known as the bill of women’s rights, and it was ratified by The Bahamas in 1993. Marion Bethel recently completed her second and final term as a CEDAW Committee Member, reviewing UN Member States, assessing their progress toward compliance, and making recommendations. We were in conversation with Marion Bethel about the basics of CEDAW, ways to use it in our advocacy, and the importance of building systems that make it unnecessary for us, as individuals, to be “strong,” “resilient,” and able to “bounce back” on our own.

Click Here to Watch in Full

December 3 – Channeling Rage: A Theatre Workshop with Paula Hamilton-Smith

Rage may not come easily to women and girls who have been trained and pressured to avoid it at all costs. Even those of us who experience it may struggle to express it. Let’s enter the world of theater! Trinidadian actor and theater teacher Paula Hamilton Smith facilitated a workshop to help us to get comfortable with feeling rage and letting it out. Let’s get loud!

Click Here to Watch the First Segment

December 4 – Managing Disasters with Barrise Griffin

Barrise Griffin is the Master of Disaster, so we were in conversation with her about disaster management, focusing on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. We know that it cannot be about individual actions, contingent on our limited resources, but has to be systemic and for the benefit of all.

Click Here to Watch in Full

December 5 – Femicide in the Caribbean with Taitu Heron

​Femicide is the killing of a woman or girl because of her sex or gender. The term is not used in The Bahamas or the rest of the Caribbean which means the killings of women and girls are not properly counted or analyzed. We were in conversation with Taitu Heron about her research on femicide in select countries in the Caribbean. We got into cases of femicide, including at least one that resulted from neglect by the State. We are looking forward to finding a way forward in research on femicide and ensuring that cases are recorded and the analysis contributes to the work to prevent femicide and gender-based violence.

Click Here to Watch in Full

December 7 – Making Our Rage Visible with Sonia Farmer & Margot Bethel

​It’s a (printmaking) party in the front and the back at Poinciana Paper Press, all day! Participants were able to drop in at #12 Parkgate Road, any time between 10am and 5pm, for stamp-making with Sonia Farmer and screenprinting with Margot Bethel! We made great art together, and everyone had a keepsake to take home.

December 8 – Day of Art and Relaxation

We took over the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas on Sunday, December 8 to enjoy a place to lounge, read, check out the exhibitions including it comes from the head, watch movies, and be in community;  with  free  snacks  and  beverages!December 9 – Writing Our Rage: A Workshop with Staceyann Chin

​Staceyann Chin has been writing her rage for years, and taking over rooms with hundreds of people, making it impossible for anyone to fail to share in that rage. In this in-person workshop at Poinciana Paper Press, she guided us in tapping into our own and putting it on the page. She travelled from Jamaica to be with us for this in person event!

December 10 – Let’s Make a Rage Book! with Sonia Farmer

For the last day of 16 Days and Human Rights Day, we met in person. Poinciana Paper Press is one of our favourite places to be, especially when Sonia Farmer is facilitating a workshop. Everyone needs a place to put their rage. For some of us, it’s the page. Together, we designed a book, giving ourselves a space to put the rage we know we need to feel and express. Oh, and we had snacks! Everyone left with their own book, and a few new friends too.

Feminist Book Club: November 2024

Join us for the last Feminist Book Club meeting of 2024! We’re reading The Resilience Myth by Soraya Chemaly, a Bahamian-American author, activist, and feminist based in the U.S.

Date: Wednesday, November 20 at 6pm EST
Location: Poinciana Paper Press, 12 Parkgate Road

Kate Manne calls The Resilience Myth “a must-read book for our age.” She says, “Resilience is an ideology—comprising elements of individualism, bootstraps, and even victim-blaming. With characteristically brilliant arguments and meticulous research, Chemaly demolishes this ideology in The Resilience Myth and shows us how to build something so much better for everyone facing adversity.”

We’ll be joined by Soraya Chemaly in the second half of the meeting, so be sure to bring your questions. It’ll be a great conversation about the expectation that individuals be resilient and the ways our communities need to come to together for sustained care and support.

The Resilience Myth by Soraya Chemaly is available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook. There’s time to get it and read it before November 20!

Register to join: tiny.cc/fbc2024

Women’s Wednesdays: Food Security in a Changing World with Kelli Jolly

In this edition of Women’s Wednesdays that took place November 6, 2024, we were in conversation with Kelli Jolly, Outreach Coordinator at Hands for Hunger about what the organization does and why food rescue is central to its work.

We want know what is being done, and what we all can do, to achieve food security. Crises like Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic showed us how precarious our access to food is here in The Bahamas. Let’s find out if and how it changed operations at Hands for Hunger and how this organization, providing food on a daily basis, balances that work with the structural changes that need to take place countrywide.

Watch the session from November 6, 2024 below.

Women’s Wednesdays was designed by Equality Bahamas as a response to community members’ requests for a space to access resources, experts, and practitioners, share knowledge, and engage in conversation with one another. Officially started in May 2017, Women’s Wednesdays highlights Bahamian women and our experiences in The Bahamas, specific to our identities including gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability. Held once per month at minimum, the events draw women together to have conversations that bring our individual lives into focus while connecting to family, community, and national narratives.

#WW242 intentionally centers and prioritizes women and girls, and is open to the public through in-person events, livestreams, and social media activity. With the support of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, we create a safe space for knowledge-building, idea-sharing, critical dialogue, and movement-building.

Climate Change & Conflict: Why International Affairs Make a Difference (part 4 of Climate series)

We’re talking about international affairs and the way conflict (and, to be clear, genocide) impacts the climate. We know the airstrikes and arson are not without environmental consequence for the entire world.

This is the final instalment of a four-part Facebook and Instagram Live series with Climate Expert Marjahn Finlayson (ClimateEdu) and Alicia Wallace (Equality Bahamas), which took place October 17, 2024.

Donate to our Sunday Donations list:
https://tinyurl.com/SunDon

Connect with Climate Edu Bahamas: https://climateedubahamas.com/

Watch the full conversation below.

Climate Change: Global & Local Scales (part 3 of Climate series)

In this conversation, we’re talking about the local and global scales when it comes to climate change.

How can we make a difference as individuals, as members of our communities, and on a larger scale?

This is the third of a four-part Facebook and Instagram Live series with Climate Expert Marjahn Finlayson (ClimateEdu) and Alicia Wallace (Equality Bahamas), which took place October 3, 2024.

Donate to our Sunday Donations list:
https://tinyurl.com/SunDon

Connect with Climate Edu Bahamas: https://climateedubahamas.com/

Watch the full conversation below.

Women’s Wednesdays: Women’s Health: Medicine, Mentorship & Motherhood

On Wednesday, October 2, we were joined by Dr. Agatha Mackey, who spoke about her journey to becoming an Ob/Gyn. She also answered questions about access to healthcare for women in all stages of life.

Kadesha mediated the conversation for us, asking Dr. Agatha Mackey about her decision to study medicine and specialize in obstetrics and gynecology, her mentorship experiences, and how motherhood affects her practice.

Watch the session from October 2, 2024 below.

Women’s Wednesdays was designed by Equality Bahamas as a response to community members’ requests for a space to access resources, experts, and practitioners, share knowledge, and engage in conversation with one another. Officially started in May 2017, Women’s Wednesdays highlights Bahamian women and our experiences in The Bahamas, specific to our identities including gender, race, sexuality, age, and ability. Held once per month at minimum, the events draw women together to have conversations that bring our individual lives into focus while connecting to family, community, and national narratives.

#WW242 intentionally centers and prioritizes women and girls, and is open to the public through in-person events, livestreams, and social media activity. With the support of the National Art Gallery of The Bahamas, we create a safe space for knowledge-building, idea-sharing, critical dialogue, and movement-building.